Guillaume Edelin , was a prior who confessed to being witch, convicted in 1453, and the first person to confess to have flown on a broom.

Life

Edelin was the

Prior The term prior may refer to: * Prior (ecclesiastical), the head of a priory (monastery) * Prior convictions, the life history and previous convictions of a suspect or defendant in a criminal case * Prior probability, in Bayesian statistics * Prio ...

Saint-Germain-en-Laye Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. ...

, an Augustinian and a

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...

. He promulgated the idea that it was impossible for the Devil to make pacts or witches to fly on brooms. He also confessed to having gone to the

Sabbath In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, Ten Commandments, commanded by God to be kept as a Holid ...

"mounted on a balai", the first reference to the use of a broomstick in connection with witchcraft. After his arrest he repented and was imprisoned for the rest of his life in the city of

Évreux Évreux () is a commune in and the capital of the department of Eure, in the French region of Normandy. History Antiquity In late Antiquity, the town, attested in the fourth century AD, was named '' Mediolanum Aulercorum'', "the central town ...

References

*'' Man, Myth and Magic: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Supernatural''. 1970, edited by Richard Cavendish. {{DEFAULTSORT:Edelin, Guillaume 15th-century French people People convicted of witchcraft Augustinian friars Priors 1453 in Europe 1450s in France Witch trials in France